


Better

by sweethoney (hwanxiao)



Category: UP10TION
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Minsoo is part of a chaebol family, Minsoo’s family has problems, Minsoo’s here on a scholar ship but he doesn’t really need it, Minsoo’s sick and Sooil takes care of him, Sooil is an actual simp, Sooil taking care of Minsoo, Sooil’s an angel, Tw // parents illness, the rich kid trope, theyre studying abroad in London
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 00:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30131526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hwanxiao/pseuds/sweethoney
Summary: Go Minsoo, the first son of a large chaebol family. He was the perfect heir to the company, except for the fact that he had an ongoing headache that plagued him ever since he moved to study abroad.Where one time, Sooil wounds up taking care of him out of pure chance.inspired by “better”- 김우석
Relationships: Go Minsoo | Kogyeol/No Sooil | Kuhn
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Better

**Author's Note:**

> beta reader ; @nfflying on twt ([nflying](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nflying))

The first thing Minsoo realized when he walked into the lecture hall was that he suddenly had an oncoming headache that was grasping at the insides of his brain. It would soon become awfully painful and he would lose focus on the professors words. 

So much for being a good heir when he could barely function anymore with his migraines eating at him every second of the day. 

Go Minsoo: the first son of a large chaebol family. His father also being the firstborn and current owner of their family’s electronics and technology company that had been founded by their great-great-grandfather. A long line of rich and wealthy people, old and dirty money ran throughout their family’s bloodline like a long stream of poison.

Unlike most  clichés , he actually enjoyed all the wealth and such. He knew he was privileged to have the life he did, and he was thankful for it. He liked pretty things, expensive watches, designer clothing and black credit cards. 

But all of it came with the pressure too, he was next in line to take over the business, the exact one that funded all his extended family’s lavish lifestyle. His aunties and their bottles of champagne along with their kid’s neverending extracurricular classes. His uncles and their luxury cars and their second families. They all depended on Minsoo to provide them that, the high positions in the company that were only handed out to family members; and the higher, the more their paycheck grew.

Much to his mother’s pleasantry, he  _ was _ the perfect heir to the company. Straight A’s, level eight piano, class president and sport scholarships. Everything was perfect all along to his charming personality and handsome smile. The latter was caused by extensive training and sculpting that his babysitters and tutors had put him through. He was polite—he didn’t talk back—only giving the adults a pretty smile when they complimented him on his achievements.

His parents were even more happy to learn that he had won a scholarship to study abroad; not that they would need one to afford sending him to a college out of the country, but still, it was another achievement to add on to his ever growing list.

The first hit came on his second month of moving into the new apartment near his university. He normally had headaches that he could just power through by sheer will, but this time; it didn’t go away as he spent almost two days wallowing in agony as it felt like someone was beating his head with a blunger. Finally, when it had passed, Minsoo decided to check in with a doctor.

The professional told him he had a migraine, most likely passed down through his genetics or a severe amount of stress. Then he proceeded to give Minsoo pills to help with it. Minsoo learned that the medications slowed his brain functions, and with the overwhelming tests and exams—he refused to take them, knowing that it could cause him to fail the upcoming subjects.

That may have made it worse as the migraines turned from once every few months to once a month and now to weekly, but no matter how hard it got, he didn’t tell his family. If they knew he had headaches that practically immobilizes him every week then his role to take over the company would definitely be snatched by one of his aunties many talented kids, Gyujin being the second in line to take over if anything would’ve happened to Minsoo.

Even now as his scores started to drop from how many classes he had missed and how many assignments he was behind on, he didn’t budge to tell his family. Maybe he could bribe the professors into giving him a better grade by the end of this semester. 

At the moment he was tempted to leave the lecture hall and return to his apartment then pop some sleeping pills into his system along with the medication his doctor had prescribed and proceed to pass out on his bed.

He decided that it was a good idea. Minsoo quickly darted out the door, somewhat faking his urgency so the teacher wouldn’t call for him. He ran down the marbled tiled steps down to the vacant courtyard below as he felt the first pinch of his migraine shake the at the stem of his brain.

He wouldn’t make it to his apartment that was a whole seven miles away. He couldn’t drive definitely so that was instantly out of the choices. Being on a bus with tens of people would most likely make him dispose of his breakfast that morning and Wooseok was currently busy with his boyfriend on a trip to Birmingham. 

Running through his choices only worsened his oncoming headache as his legs started to go weak. He grasped blindly on to a tree near him—or so he thought it was one.

“Dude- Wait are you okay? You look like you’re going to pass out.” A voice boomed through his ear, causing Minsoo to jump back, almost tumbling into a nearby bush if it wasn’t for the stranger grabbing at his arm.

Forcing his eyes to focus on the stranger he had just mistaken as a tree, Minsoo saw his brown hair first, then his round glasses all the way down to his plain black shirt. His vision threatened to blink out as one man turned into two in perfect reflections of each other. Despite his fucked up eyesight, he recognized the guy quickly; he was here on a sports scholarship as he vaguely remembered them to be in the same guide tour around the campus. Korean scholarship guide.

“I have a headache,” Minsoo managed to say shortly in Korean, gritting at his teeth. It hurt to even form a tiny sentence in his mother-language.

The guy swiftly wrapped an arm around Minsoo’s waist to prevent him from falling over, Minsoo stiffened at the touch, but if the guy noticed, he didn’t mention it. “Okay, I’m Sooil. Do you need to go to a hospital?” 

Minsoo shook his head as he struggled to pull out his phone from his tote bag. Sooil looked like he wanted to intervene but he kept still as Minsoo handed him a dark blue iPhone. Latest version. 

“In the phone case-” Minsoo paused as another hit came to his brain causing him to physically wince. “My name and address,” he added on with a shaky voice. If he had the mental capacity at the moment to be embarrassed, he would; but at the moment he wasn’t thinking about how disappointed his father would be if the old man found out his first and only son was too sickly to even form a steady sentence.

Sooil did as he was told, slipping off the dark blue case, picking out a small piece of paper inside it. It was meant to be if Minsoo had lost his phone someone would be able to return it, even if he could buy a new one easily.

“Fifth Floor, Orchard Wharf, Docklands, E14. Go Min-” Sooil stuttered on his words, seemingly shocked by his name.

“Go as in LLGO?” The mention of his father’s company caused Minsoo to flinch.

Minsoo decided a nod was an appropriate answer. For all Sooil knew, he was a third-cousin twice-removed from that company’s CEO, not his direct son.

“Okay, Minsoo. Let’s get you home.” Sooil gave him a dismissive pat on the back as he guided Minsoo to his car. 

At that point, he was just thankful that Sooil didn’t push on about his family; he was sure that just the thought of the company’s logo would make him puke all over the other’s car.

And that wouldn’t look good on the news if anyone found out.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The car ride was painful, Sooil insisted Minsoo lie in the backseat of his car but Minsoo didn’t like the thought of being vulnerable in a stranger’s vehicle so he took the passenger seat next to Sooil. So as he struggled to sit up straight and mask his pain from the other, Sooil droned on introducing himself to Minsoo despite his lack of a response.

A few keynotes hear and there pierced through the thumping inside his head, Sooil was a year older than him, he played a lot of sports, his parents were proud of his scholarship, it was hard for him to adjust to the language, he had a friend here named Changhyun who he was waiting for in front of the lecture hall, he lived in the campus’s dorm, he had a long term boyfriend who he broke up with before coming here, he liked the coffee here.

Minsoo felt bad for not being able to reciprocate Sooil’s enthusiasm but the pain had become unbearable to ignore, and the older didn’t seem to mind his silence.

After twenty minutes of Sooil’s autobiography which was now down to the chapter about his first dog, they finally pulled up to Minsoo’s apartment complex. He wanted nothing more than to be reunited with his sleeping pills and Advil.

Despite arriving directly in front of his flat, Sooil still didn’t let him up alone. The older helping him wobble into the elevator up to his floor. One arm wrapped tightly around Minsoo’s waist as the other held his belongings. Minsoo wasn’t surprised when the receptionist gave him a questioning look when he walked in.

“Are you sure you don’t need to go to a hospital?” Sooil asked again when they arrived in front of Minsoo’s room. At this point he was delirious, his body was two seconds away from shutting down and the pounding in his head had started to make him see stars. He hated how his vision would always go first in situations like this.

But luckily, he still could find his voice, even if it was shaky. “Yeah, I-I’m fine,” He said, using his fingerprint to unlock the door. 

Minsoo was about to slip into the room before he felt the tug at his waist, “Are you sure you’ll be okay alone, I can stay if you want?” Sooil asked, his face etched with worry.

The younger didn’t know how to reply. Of course, he would survive this—he always did, but he would also definitely suffer. Especially because this session came without a warning, he hadn’t stock-piled up on food or anything and he couldn’t call Yein or Wooseok to help him out either. He’d survive, just not unscathed.

When Minsoo didn’t answer instantly, Sooil seemed to think he was dissociating as the older tightened his grip on Minsoo’s waist. 

Minsoo didn’t know whether it was the worried look on Sooil’s face, his migraine making him delusional or his fucked up vision; but at that moment, the thought of someone taking care of him sounded awfully persuading. “That sounds nice,” he answered shortly, leaving the door between them wide open, waiting for Sooil to invite himself in.

Thankfully, Sooil got the hint as he stepped into Minsoo’s apartment; quickly moving to lead the younger to a nearby couch as he laid him down. “I’ll go get you some water okay?”

Minsoo grumbled a reply, as Sooil stepped off into his kitchen.

This was peculiar for him; he normally didn’t let anyone see him this vulnerable except for Yein who insisted on bringing him food when he’s like this, and that was after months of gaining his trust.

He figured it wouldn’t hurt to let Sooil take care of him for the day, even if they were practically strangers. 

“Here, I saw your medication on the counter. It’s this one right?” Sooil handed the pills over to Minsoo as the younger struggled to sit up right. 

Minsoo nodded, popping the pills and downing the water in one go. The action was like autopilot on his body. 

He jumped slightly as Sooil fanned a red cloth over his body “I brought you a blanket from your bed,” He said, 

It was a weird feeling to be treated like he was fragile, even his babysitters would always scold and hit him if he stepped one foot out of place. It didn’t matter if he was sick, he’d be expected to entertain his many aunties at a family gathering. “Just take some pills and get over it,” his father always said. “Don’t act weak infront of them.” Minsoo always wanted to ask  _ why?,  _ weren’t they his family after all?

He was tired, overwhelmed by acting as everything was okay. That it didn’t hurt to just be normal, that the pressure wasn’t crushing him to pieces. 

“It hurts,” he mumbles softly to no one in particular,

Sooil hastily pulled out a tissue from the container then proceeded to dab at the edge of Minsoo’s eyes, the younger didn’t realize that he started crying. 

He looked down at how Sooil was positioned, crouching in front of him. “What are you doing?” he asked

“I’m taking care of you,” Sooil answered easily with a lazy smile on his face, sparkles in his eyes.

Minsoo realized at that moment that he didn’t want to let Sooil go, just yet anyway. For the first time in forever, he felt safe—like he wasn’t on his own for once. It made him want to hold on to the feeling as long as possible

But even if Sooil looked harmless, his trust issues got the better of him. Even in a blurry state of mind, his fathers warning to never let anyone in echoed throughout his brain.

“Why are you taking care of me? You don’t know me.” 

Sooil seemed taken back by his question, like no one has ever interrogated him about his kindness—which was most likely a normal reaction.

“Because you look like you need it,” Sooil replied. A basic answer that shouldn’t have affected Minsoo the way it did as he felt warm tears run down his cheeks. He didn’t want or need the older’s pity but at the same time, maybe he liked it.

He didn’t want to think of how pathetic he looked right now. 

“Your eyes look prettier without the tears,” Sooil jokes, making Minsoo laugh lightly in return.

A comfortable silence settled in between the two as Sooil stood up to look down at Minsoo, as if asking if he needed anything else. When Minsoo didn’t reply, he asked the question Minsoo was too prideful to suggest, “Would you prefer if I stay for a bit longer?” 

Minsoo couldn’t be more happy to agree. “Yeah,” his answer was short but he knew he was smiling despite the on-going pain of his headache.

It shocked the younger a little when Sooil positioned himself to sit right next to Minsoo on the couch. Minsoo instinctively moved closer to almost drape himself over Sooil’s warm body. The older didn’t seem to mind him as he turned on the television after fiddling with the remote control for a few seconds.

The whole situation was peculiar. He didn’t even know Sooil but here he was—leaned over his shoulder like they’ve been dating for years. Despite the weirdness of it all, it felt right. If not counting the pounding in his head that made him groan out in pain every few minutes; he was somewhat happy to have Sooil here next to him.

For once, he wasn’t worrying. It was as if the pressure on his shoulders were lifted off momentarily as Sooil fed him convenient store fried rice. It felt right, and Sooil’s bright smile convinced him that he would be okay.

He convinced Sooil to stay the night, saying his apartment was more comfortable than the campus dorms and the older didn’t argue. 

The following week, Sooil dropped off to take care of Minsoo so often it was like he had already moved it. Food, medication and other miscellaneous things were served at Minsoo’s front door step like he was a king. He even stayed the night for the few days that Minsoo’s headache hit the worse.

That week, his migraine went away faster than it used to. He woke up with his head clear and Sooil sleeping comfortably with an arm wrapped protectively around his body.

It was all so strange and Minsoo couldn’t explain how he felt, but he knew for sure one thing: he liked Sooil a lot.

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
